September/2025

The Double Exclusion in Turkey’s Labour Market: Youth and Women on the Margins.

The Double Exclusion in Turkey’s Labour Market: Youth and Women on the Margins Turkey, positioned at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, has long been recognized for its fast-growing and resilient economy. Over the past decades, the country has achieved periods of remarkable GDP expansion, strengthened its industrial base, and enhanced its role in global trade. Yet, behind this economic dynamism lies a pressing paradox: strong growth figures have not successfully translated into equitable or sufficient employment opportunities for large parts of society. Instead, a significant portion of Turkey’s population continues to face systematic barriers in accessing stable, formal, and rewarding jobs.

The two groups most affected by this reality are the youth and women. Young people, despite being more educated than previous generations, often find themselves excluded from the labour market or forced into precarious, low-paying work. Structural mismatches between education and available jobs, combined with high competition in urban centers, make the transition from school to work exceptionally difficult. Long spells of unemployment or underemployment early in a career can have lasting negative impacts, reducing both lifetime earnings and professional development opportunities.

Women face a different, though equally challenging, set of obstacles. Cultural expectations, unequal household responsibilities, limited access to childcare, and workplace discrimination contribute to persistently low female labour force participation in Turkey compared to many OECD countries. Even when women do secure employment, they are more likely to work in informal or low-wage sectors, limiting their economic empowerment and reinforcing gender inequality.

The intersection of these two identities—being both young and female—creates what scholars and policymakers describe as a “double exclusion.” For young women, the barriers are not simply additive but compounding. They must navigate structural economic inefficiencies while also confronting deep-rooted cultural norms and gendered restrictions. As a result, many young women are discouraged from entering or remaining in the workforce, representing an enormous loss of potential talent for the country.

Understanding this dual exclusion is essential to evaluating Turkey’s broader socio-economic landscape. A labour market that sidelines youth and women cannot achieve sustainable, inclusive development. Addressing these challenges requires targeted reforms: aligning education with labour market needs, expanding childcare infrastructure, challenging cultural barriers to women’s work, and creating incentives for businesses to hire young people and women. Only through such measures can Turkey transform its growth into meaningful opportunities for all citizens and unlock the full potential of its diverse population.

The Pervasive Youth Unemployment Crisism in Turkey

Turkey is often described as a young nation, with one of the lowest median ages in Europe—around 33 years. On the surface, this youthful population should represent a demographic advantage, offering a large and energetic workforce capable of driving innovation, productivity, and long-term economic growth. Countries across the world envy such a demographic structure, particularly as aging societies in Europe and East Asia struggle with shrinking workforces and rising dependency ratios. However, in Turkey, this potential demographic dividend has increasingly taken the form of a demographic burden. Instead of serving as a source of economic vitality, the growing number of young job seekers has collided with a labour market unable to absorb them. The result is a pervasive youth unemployment crisis that poses not only economic risks but also profound social and political challenges. This crisis is characterized by four interrelated dimensions: persistently high unemployment rates among young people, a severe mismatch between education and labour market needs, the dominance of informal and precarious employment, and the destabilizing effects of economic volatility on job creation. Taken together, these factors have created a “waiting generation”—a cohort of educated, ambitious, but largely sidelined youth struggling to gain a foothold in Turkey’s economy.

1. Staggeringly High Unemployment Rates

The most visible dimension of Turkey’s youth employment crisis is the sheer scale of joblessness among young people. Official statistics consistently demonstrate that unemployment for those aged 15 to 24 is more than double the overall national rate. While the general unemployment rate has hovered between 9% and 11% in recent years, youth unemployment frequently exceeds 20%, and in certain years or regions, it has approached or surpassed 25%.

The challenge is even sharper among university graduates. Young Turks who invest years in higher education often find themselves waiting months, if not years, to secure a job related to their field of study. In some cases, their unemployment rate is higher than that of less-educated peers, reflecting the fact that the jobs being created in the economy are not necessarily suitable for degree holders. This paradox leaves thousands of young people in a state of limbo: too educated for low-skilled jobs but unable to find opportunities that match their qualifications. The consequences of this situation are far-reaching. Economically, it means that a substantial share of human capital is underutilized, weakening productivity growth and reducing the returns on public and private investment in education. Socially, it leads to growing frustration, delayed independence, and in some cases, emigration, as young people seek opportunities abroad.

Politically, high youth unemployment has historically been linked to unrest, declining trust in institutions, and rising populist sentiments. For Turkey, with its rapidly changing political landscape, these risks cannot be ignored.

2. The Mismatch Between Education and the Labour Market (Skills Gap)

One of the most persistent drivers of youth unemployment in Turkey is the misalignment between the education system and the needs of the labour market. Over the past two decades, access to higher education has expanded dramatically, with new universities opening across the country and enrollment rising significantly. While this expansion has improved access to knowledge and raised aspirations, it has also created structural imbalances.

Large numbers of graduates are being produced in disciplines such as business administration, social sciences, and humanities. While valuable, these fields are not sufficient to meet the immediate and growing needs of Turkey’s economy. Employers consistently report shortages of workers with technical, vocational, and digital skills. Sectors such as advanced manufacturing, engineering, information technology, renewable energy, and specialized services often struggle to recruit qualified candidates. This mismatch means that while young graduates remain unemployed or underemployed, firms simultaneously face labour shortages in key industries—a paradox that underscores systemic inefficiencies.

Moreover, the quality of education itself is often questioned by employers. Surveys indicate that many graduates lack practical skills, problem-solving abilities, and foreign language proficiency, especially in English, which limits their employability in internationalized sectors. The emphasis on rote learning and theoretical knowledge over applied, hands-on training further deepens the gap.

Bridging this divide requires a stronger integration of vocational and technical training, closer collaboration between universities and industries, and reforms to better align curricula with market realities. Without such reforms, Turkey risks perpetuating a cycle where its education system raises expectations but fails to deliver pathways to meaningful employment.

3. The Prevalence of Informal and Precarious Work

Even when young people manage to secure employment, the quality of work available is often far from satisfactory. A significant portion of Turkey’s workforce operates within the informal economy, which continues to account for roughly one-third of total employment despite government efforts to reduce it. For youth, the rate is even higher, as they are the most vulnerable entrants to the labour market.

Informal employment is characterized by low wages, absence of social security registration, lack of job security, and minimal opportunities for advancement. Young workers in informal jobs are denied access to unemployment benefits, pensions, and workplace protections, making them particularly susceptible to exploitation. Many accept such positions out of desperation, viewing them as temporary stepping stones, but often find themselves trapped in cycles of instability. Beyond informality, precarious work has also grown in prominence. Short-term contracts, part-time arrangements without benefits, and unpaid internships are increasingly common. Employers, seeking to reduce costs and maintain flexibility in uncertain economic conditions, often prefer these arrangements over permanent contracts. For young people, however, such instability has long-term consequences: it prevents financial planning, delays marriage and family formation, and undermines social mobility.

The rise of the gig economy further complicates the picture. While it offers some flexibility, gig work in Turkey often mirrors the weaknesses of informal employment—low pay, no protections, and irregular hours—rather than serving as a genuine platform for entrepreneurship. The result is a generation of young workers navigating a fragile and fragmented labour market, unable to build secure and prosperous futures.

4. Economic Volatility and its Impact on Hiring

Finally, Turkey’s macroeconomic volatility has amplified the challenges of youth employment. Over the past decade, the country has experienced sharp currency depreciations, high inflation, fluctuating interest rates, and periods of political and geopolitical uncertainty. These factors have created an environment of instability for businesses, discouraging long-term investment and hiring.

In times of economic turbulence, youth are often the first to be excluded. Employers facing uncertainty are reluctant to take risks on inexperienced workers, preferring to retain older, more seasoned employees. During downturns, young workers are also more likely to be laid off, as they have less seniority and weaker job protections. This cyclical vulnerability further entrenches their difficulties, creating repeated disruptions to early career development.

Moreover, economic instability discourages foreign investment, which could otherwise be a major source of job creation for young Turks. International firms, wary of unpredictable markets, may relocate or downsize operations, reducing opportunities in high-value sectors such as finance, technology, and manufacturing. The cumulative effect is a labour market that consistently fails to provide stable and adequate employment opportunities for new entrants.

A Crisis Demanding Urgent Attention

The youth unemployment crisis in Turkey is not merely a temporary imbalance between supply and demand in the labour market—it is a structural challenge with deep roots and far-reaching consequences. Persistently high unemployment rates, a glaring skills mismatch, the dominance of informal and precarious employment, and the destabilizing impact of economic volatility together form a complex web of barriers that young people struggle to overcome.

If left unaddressed, this crisis risks squandering Turkey’s demographic advantage, fostering disillusionment among its youth, and undermining long-term economic and social stability. However, the challenge is not insurmountable. By investing in education reform, strengthening vocational training, reducing informality, and fostering an environment of economic stability and innovation, Turkey can transform its youthful population into an engine of growth rather than a source of frustration.

For a nation straddling continents and aspiring to greater global influence, empowering its youth is not just a moral imperative—it is an economic necessity. The future of Turkey’s prosperity depends on whether it can turn its “waiting generation” into a thriving, contributing force for development.

The Deep-Rooted Challenges for Female Labour Force Participation in Turkey

While youth unemployment is a serious problem in Turkey, the situation for women in the labour market is even more troubling. Turkey has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates among OECD countries, languishing between 30% and 35%, compared to an OECD average of more than 60%. This disparity represents not only an economic challenge but also a social one, as it signals the systematic exclusion of nearly half the country’s population from meaningful economic activity. The underutilization of women’s potential is a massive waste of human capital, talent, and creativity that could otherwise fuel innovation, productivity, and social progress.

The barriers women face are complex, deeply embedded in cultural traditions, and reinforced by structural deficiencies in public policy and the economy. Four main challenges stand out: entrenched gender roles and the “triple burden,” the motherhood penalty combined with inadequate childcare, occupational segregation and the glass ceiling, and safety concerns in both urban and workplace environments. Together, these barriers create a cycle of exclusion that discourages women from entering, staying, or advancing in the workforce.

1. The Weight of Traditional Gender Roles and the “Triple Burden”

At the heart of low female participation in Turkey’s workforce are deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and traditional family structures. In many communities, a woman’s primary role is still seen as that of a wife, mother, and homemaker. Paid employment is often considered secondary, even unnecessary, especially if the household has a male breadwinner. These cultural expectations act as invisible but powerful barriers to women’s economic participation. Women who attempt to balance careers with family responsibilities often encounter the so-called “triple burden.” They carry professional responsibilities at work, manage household chores, and provide the bulk of child-rearing and elder care. Unlike in many Western countries, where men increasingly share domestic duties, in Turkey there remains little redistribution of household labour. Surveys show that Turkish men devote significantly fewer hours to housework and caregiving than women, regardless of whether both partners are employed.

Moreover, the decision for a woman to work is rarely her own alone. In many households, husbands, fathers, or even fathers-in-law hold significant influence over whether a woman “should” work. Resistance from family members—often justified on grounds of social status, family honor, or fear of neglecting domestic duties—discourages women from seeking jobs even when they wish to do so. This makes female labour force participation not just an economic decision but also a deeply cultural and political one.

2. The Motherhood Penalty and Inadequate Childcare

Another formidable obstacle is what economists call the “motherhood penalty.” In Turkey, women who marry and have children face significant barriers to maintaining continuous careers. The absence of widespread, affordable, and high-quality childcare services is one of the most critical structural issues behind this trend.

While public daycare centers and preschools do exist, their numbers are inadequate to meet demand, particularly in densely populated urban areas where extended family support networks may not be available. Private childcare facilities are often prohibitively expensive, with monthly fees that can exceed the wages many women would earn in entry-level jobs. Faced with the prospect of spending their entire salaries—or more—on childcare, many women decide that employment is economically irrational.

As a result, female labour force participation drops sharply during prime childbearing years, typically between the ages of 25 and 40. Data shows that many women who leave the workforce to raise children never return. Skill atrophy, long gaps in resumes, and discriminatory hiring practices all contribute to making re-entry extremely difficult. Employers often assume that mothers will be less committed, more likely to take leave, or less flexible, reinforcing bias against hiring women with children.

The consequences of this motherhood penalty extend beyond individual families. On a macroeconomic level, it reduces the size and diversity of the labour force. Countries with higher female participation often experience faster and more sustainable growth because they harness the full potential of their populations. By contrast, Turkey’s limited childcare infrastructure and weak family support policies effectively sideline millions of women, stunting the nation’s economic capacity.

3. Occupational Segregation and the Glass Ceiling

Even when women overcome cultural and structural barriers to enter the workforce, they often face a different challenge: occupational segregation. Turkish women are disproportionately concentrated in a narrow range of sectors traditionally considered “suitable” for women, such as education, healthcare, textiles, retail, and low-level service work. While these sectors are important, they tend to be lower-paying and offer fewer opportunities for advancement. By contrast, women remain severely underrepresented in high-growth, high-wage industries such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), finance, and executive management. Studies show that women are less than a third of employees in technical fields and an even smaller share in senior leadership roles. Cultural stereotypes about “appropriate” jobs for women, limited access to technical education, and hiring biases all contribute to this imbalance.

Vertical segregation—or the “glass ceiling”—is equally persistent. Even in fields where women are well represented, such as teaching or healthcare, senior decision-making positions are dominated by men. Women who aspire to leadership often face subtle but powerful forms of discrimination, such as being excluded from informal professional networks or being judged more harshly for assertiveness.

This structural imbalance perpetuates wage gaps. Women, on average, earn less than men in Turkey, even when controlling for education and experience. The gender pay gap reinforces economic dependency, discourages participation, and limits career aspirations for young women who see few role models in positions of power. Breaking this cycle requires both cultural change and structural reforms, including stronger anti-discrimination policies and proactive measures to encourage women in STEM and leadership.

4. Safety Concerns and the Urban Environment

A less discussed but equally significant barrier is the issue of safety. Many women and their families worry about harassment, violence, or unsafe conditions when commuting to and from work. Inadequate public transportation, overcrowding, poor urban planning, and insufficiently lit streets can all contribute to feelings of vulnerability. For women in smaller towns or conservative areas, even being seen traveling alone to a workplace can invite social scrutiny or gossip. In the workplace itself, harassment and discrimination are also concerns. Surveys of working women in Turkey reveal that significant numbers report experiences of verbal harassment, inappropriate behavior, or unequal treatment by colleagues and superiors. Such experiences contribute to higher attrition rates, with some women leaving jobs simply to avoid hostile environments.

The issue of safety is not merely personal but systemic. Without reliable, safe, and accessible infrastructure, many women choose not to work at all, particularly in jobs that require long commutes or late hours. Addressing this requires both public investment in safer urban spaces and stronger workplace protections to ensure that women can participate in the labour force without fear.

Unlocking Turkey’s Untapped Potential

The challenges women face in Turkey’s labour market are multifaceted, combining cultural, structural, and economic dimensions. Traditional gender roles impose heavy expectations on women, the motherhood penalty and weak childcare infrastructure push them out of the workforce during prime years, occupational segregation and the glass ceiling restrict career advancement, and safety concerns in both urban and professional environments discourage participation.

Together, these barriers contribute to one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in the OECD, representing an enormous loss of human capital. In a global economy where diversity and inclusivity are increasingly linked to innovation and competitiveness, Turkey cannot afford to leave half its population underutilized.

Empowering women economically is not only a matter of gender equality—it is a strategic necessity. Expanding childcare services, promoting equal distribution of domestic responsibilities, enforcing anti-discrimination measures, and ensuring safer cities and workplaces are all critical steps. By dismantling these barriers, Turkey could double its effective workforce, boost productivity, and accelerate social progress.

The path to a more inclusive labour market may be long and complex, but the benefits of unlocking the potential of women are undeniable. For Turkey to achieve sustainable growth and social cohesion, it must ensure that its women are not spectators but full participants in the economy of the future.

The Intersectional Challenge: Being a Young Woman

The disadvantages in Turkey’s labour market are not simply additive for young women; they are multiplicative. Youth and women each face distinct structural barriers, but for those who fall into both categories, the challenges are compounded into what can only be described as a crisis of exclusion.

A young woman entering the workforce must navigate the same economic volatility, skills mismatches, and scarcity of opportunities that affect her male peers. Yet, she does so while also contending with gendered stereotypes, restrictive cultural norms, and discriminatory hiring practices. For instance, a young female graduate who has invested in higher education may discover that her degree alone is insufficient to guarantee even an interview. When she does secure one, she may face intrusive questions about her marital status, family planning, or willingness to balance professional duties with childcare. Employers often assume that young women will leave their jobs to start a family, which results in qualified candidates being passed over in favor of less-skilled male applicants.

This intersection creates the highest risk of exclusion, leading to prolonged unemployment or underemployment and, ultimately, economic dependency. While young men may struggle with job scarcity, they rarely face the additional cultural and institutional hurdles that restrict women’s full participation. For young women, therefore, the barriers are not just double but deeply intertwined, creating a cycle that undermines their ability to achieve financial independence, contribute to the economy, and shape their futures.

The exclusion of young women represents one of the most severe forms of wasted human capital in Turkey. Not only does it deny individuals their rightful opportunities, but it also deprives the country of an energetic, educated, and ambitious segment of its population.

Policy Responses and the Gap Between Intention and Implementation

The Turkish government has not been blind to the challenges of youth and women’s employment. A variety of programs have been introduced to address these issues, aiming to stimulate participation and create opportunities.

For youth, policies have included:

● Active Labour Market Programs (ALMPs): Designed to provide job-search assistance, career counseling, and placement services.
● Vocational training courses: Intended to align the skills of young people with labor market demands.
● Hiring incentives for employers: Social security premium support for a limited period to encourage firms to employ young people.

For women, initiatives have focused on:

● Childcare support expansion: Publicly supported daycare centers and subsidies for working mothers.
● Female entrepreneurship campaigns: Programs aimed at promoting women as business leaders and innovators.
● Financial incentives for companies: Subsidies or tax relief for firms that hire women, particularly in formal employment.

At first glance, these initiatives appear promising. However, their real-world impact has been limited, exposing a significant gap between policy intention and practical implementation. One major limitation is scale. Many of these programs operate only in certain regions, serve relatively small numbers of participants, or lack sustained funding. Vocational training, for instance, may reach thousands of young people but is insufficient in a country where millions are unemployed or underemployed. Moreover, the quality of training is often questioned; courses are sometimes outdated, disconnected from private-sector needs, and poorly adapted to rapidly changing technological demands.

Hiring incentives have also revealed flaws. While subsidies encourage short-term employment, they frequently produce a “revolving door” effect. Companies hire workers to take advantage of government support but dismiss them once the subsidy period ends. This undermines the goal of sustainable, quality employment and traps many young people and women in cycles of instability.

Most crucially, these policies often treat the symptoms rather than the causes of exclusion. Financial incentives may temporarily offset costs for employers, but they do not address the cultural and structural barriers that systematically keep women at home and youth on the margins. Campaigns for female entrepreneurship, while laudable, cannot replace the need for a robust system of affordable childcare, nor can they shift entrenched patriarchal norms overnight. Similarly, while vocational training seeks to close the skills gap, the broader education system still produces graduates misaligned with market needs. And while youth subsidies may reduce hiring risks for employers, they cannot counteract the larger economic volatility and uncertainty that discourage long-term investment in permanent staff.

An Imperative for Inclusive Growth

The challenges facing youth and women in the Turkish labour market are not separate crises; they are interconnected, structural failures rooted in the same blend of economic inefficiencies, educational shortcomings, and cultural traditions. This double exclusion—most severe for young women—represents a colossal waste of potential that weakens Turkey’s economy, strains its social fabric, and diminishes its global competitiveness. Addressing this dual challenge requires more than incremental fixes. It demands a bold, holistic strategy that tackles both immediate barriers and long-term cultural transformation. Key elements of such an approach include:

1. Education Reform and Skills Development: A radical overhaul of the education system to align curricula with labour market needs. This means integrating technical, digital, and vocational skills while fostering strong university-industry collaboration. 2. Universal Childcare Infrastructure: Massive public investment to ensure affordable, high-quality childcare is accessible nationwide. This would empower women to choose work without economic or logistical constraints.

3. Legal Enforcement and Workplace Flexibility: Rigorous enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, stronger protections against harassment, and promotion of flexible work arrangements to allow both men and women to balance professional and family roles.

4. Formalization of Employment: Policies to reduce informality, ensuring that jobs for youth and women provide social security, dignity, and long-term prospects. 5. Cultural Transformation: A sustained national campaign to challenge traditional gender roles, normalize men’s participation in domestic labor, and reshape social attitudes towards women’s work and young people’s contributions.

Turkey’s future prosperity hinges on its ability to mobilize its entire population. A youthful demographic and a talented female population should be assets, not liabilities. Yet unless structural, cultural, and policy reforms converge, these groups will remain underutilized, deepening inequality and limiting growth.

Failing to integrate youth and women into the productive economy is not only a social injustice but also a strategy of economic self-sabotage. The time for modest adjustments has passed. What Turkey requires now is a decisive shift toward inclusive growth—a model that valuese very citizen’s potential, ensures fairness, and secures the nation’s place in an increasingly competitive global economy.